A question about changes

[Huge]

Hi all, I've had a bass for a number of years now, and I'm finally going through the Hal Leonard bass books, instead of just "learning" songs from tabs. (or not playing at all for a couple years... )

Anyway, I'm in Book 2 now, and noticed that when I'm playing a groove in, let's say, C and then shift to F, I don't play the last 16th note in the bar before the shift. Technically, I'm cutting the last 8th note short, the book's not at 16th notes yet .

Is this common? Should I worry about it, or do I continue to be as seamless as I can and assume my shifts'll get faster with practice? Thanks for your help.

Hmmm... Now that I've typed this out, it seems like a silly question. Oh well, I'll post it anyway.

[TheBasicBassist]

Maybe you should try a more convenient fingering? I don't think it's too odd, though, to be honest. But when going through an exercise book it's good to try things with every possible left hand fingering, just to find what's comfortable to you personally.

[guroove]

It's hard to know exactly what you mean, but if it seems wrong to you, it probably is, and should be corrected. It sounds like the beginnings of a bad habit and lazy fingers.

[storyofmidnight]

Huge,

From the sound of your post maybe the tempo is slightly too quick and you are having problems adjusting to the movements in the song?

Try playing the excercise (or song) to a slower tempo with a metronome and see if that helps the issue. If this is the case, its just a matter of working up to higher tempos and nothing a little practice won't be able to iron out.

Good luck to you!

[Chris K]

Originally Posted by Huge

Hi all, I've had a bass for a number of years now, and I'm finally going through the Hal Leonard bass books, instead of just "learning" songs from tabs. (or not playing at all for a couple years... )

Anyway, I'm in Book 2 now, and noticed that when I'm playing a groove in, let's say, C and then shift to F, I don't play the last 16th note in the bar before the shift. Technically, I'm cutting the last 8th note short, the book's not at 16th notes yet .

Is this common? Should I worry about it, or do I continue to be as seamless as I can and assume my shifts'll get faster with practice? Thanks for your help.

Hmmm... Now that I've typed this out, it seems like a silly question. Oh well, I'll post it anyway.

That's not silly, but very common. I suppose it is caused by having to think ahead to the next (F) chord, having to complete the bar with the C chord at the same time. A very important ability, but it will take you some time to master. Important conditions are consistent fingering and not having to watch the fretboard.

[Huge]

I'll try to clarify...

The last note of a bar is an 8th note. It's a G on the 5th fret D string (being played with either my pinky of ring finger). The first beat of the next bar is F on the E string (played with the index). So it's a 2 position shift down the fretboard. I wind up cutting the G short in order to get to the F in time for the next beat.

I don't think I do it going higher on the fretboard... Ah, I'm sure it'll come with some more practice. It doesn't happen when I'm playing along with the backing tracks , just when I'm practising at higher tempos (140 or so, the tracks are at ~100 BPM).

Thanks for all of your replies.

[seventhson]

what you're saying is completely ok. e.g., listen to john frusciante on the intro to "Under the Bridge". He makes it sound musical the cutting-off the-last-chord-early and making audible the quick slide to the next chord. very cool.

all you have to do is make it sound musical: have the start of the silence on the "4-and" be part of the groove. part of playing bass is making the release of certain notes in a phrase be part of the overall phrasing.

[BlakeJustBlake]

Try playing the G open on the G string.